Julie de Libran has moved — for the purpose of her spring couture show, that is.
Usually, friends, clients and editors would convene at her Left Bank home, sitting pêle-mêle on an array of chic seating, including the curvaceous couch the designer created with French architect Charles Zana.
It was still here, only this time taking pride of place in the living room of perfumer Daniela Andrier, a friend of 23 years since they met at Prada. Along with the scent she developed for de Libran — a clean, fresh mix with aldehydes, woody notes, vetiver, cedarwood and rose that is spritzed on new purchases — wafting through the air, it made guests such as Kelly Rutherford feel right at home.
In this collection, de Libran said she wanted to celebrate savoir-faire, couture, friendship but also beauty, intimacy and the strength of women. Backstage, she reminisced about her grandmother, who taught her how to knit, crochet and embroider — skills women learned in the old days, the designer noted.
For sure, there were craft-intensive pieces that reminded one of patience and painstaking execution, such as a richly embroidered pajama suit, handwoven raffia skirts with hand-cut sequins or a denim tea dress with overall fringing. Each required upward from 100 hours to make.
But what came across strongest is the designer’s focus on ease.
Knitwear, which she last explored in her role at Sonia Rykiel, was given a couture makeover here, with the likes of a black cold-shoulder dress strewn with micro-sequins and a set comprising a boxy cardigan and long skirt in khaki.
In the softest of cashmere, they telegraphed the idea that couture isn’t just a glamorous look — it’s a sensation too.
